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Auraria looks to the sun for clean energy

Panels on campus roofs will provide power for the next 20 years

By Alex Herbert
aherber4@mscd.edu

New solar panels are going up on campus as Auraria looks forward to a cleaner, cheaper future.

The solar panel project was funded by 3 Phases Energy, which used money from the Clean Energy Fee to make Auraria the largest purchaser of wind power of any campus in Colorado by 1996, said Andrew Bateman, vice president of Metro’s Student Government Assembly.

3 Phases Energy was established before the campus’ Sustainable Campus Program. He said it was after the Sustainable Campus Program was launched that 3 Phases Energy became interested in a partnership with Auraria.

Another factor in their decision to partner came when the state required a certain amount of clean energy to be used by a certain date. The state offered incentives to companies that helped reach that goal, so long as a contract was initiated by December 2006. 3 Phases Energy was willing to help reach that goal, Bateman said.

The only problem was that there wasn’t an ideal location for the panels in Denver. But according to Bateman, Auraria was seen as a perfect site because it has the space and the campus is an integrated part of the city and community of Denver.

“It was good publicity for everybody all around and we had rooftops that were really good for it that were not being used for anything else,” Bateman said.

3 Phases Energy will set up and maintain the solar panels—and it won’t cost Auraria a cent due to the fact 3 Phases Energy can profit from the panels by selling energy from them.

Bateman said that while the solar panels are being built, 3 Phases Energy will offer classes related to its project, such as engineering courses. These will help students be part of the installation process and serve as a learning experience.

All of the energy from the solar panels will be sold to Xcel Energy. Then, Auraria will buy it back from Xcel Energy at a flat rate for the next 20 years.

The flat rate is more expensive than the going rate of energy. But Bateman said in less than 10 years, if energy prices increase as predicted, Auraria would be paying a lower rate than everyone else.

Bateman said the solar panels are a positive because the campus will be using clean energy, something Auraria believes in.

“At the end of the 20-year contract we (Auraria) will have the opportunity to maybe buy the solar panels from them (3 Phases Energy) and run the project on our own, or maybe renew the contract, but that will be addressed when it comes up 20-years from now,” Bateman said.

There was some disagreement over which building the panels were going to be installed on due to the campus’s plan to reconstruct Auraria campus, known as the master plan, Bateman said. But ultimately, an agreement would be reached.

He said some people questioned the projections of the energy costs because they were concerned Auraria would end up losing on the investment. Despite this, the decision to install the panels was unanimous.

According to Bateman, the directors for finance for each of the three colleges were okay with the plan, and illustrated how good it would be for Auraria.